Priority: Thessia - Revisited
by BrightunShiny
Summary: The cinematics of Thessia take a lot of power away from the player, these short pieces try to give some of that power back. Fight, fail, and react to the events of the story - don't just watch them happen. Oneshot.
1. Chapter 1

"With the Prothean data in this beacon, I can end this conflict, once and for all," Shepard stated, his voice metallic as he spoke through his N7 helmet. "You're either with me or against me. There's nothing gray about that."

"No, I suppose there isn't," the holographic display of the Illusive Man admitted, moving away from Shepard. "Leng, the Commander has something I need. Please relieve him of it, and the bring me the data." As he finished his command, the holograph dissipated and its emitter floated back to Kai Leng's hand.

"Understood," the Cerberus agent replied. Pocketing the emitter, he dropped into a relaxed fighting stance with his blade presented before him.

Shepard holstered his shotgun, eyes locked on the crouched assassin. "This is for Thane," he whispered as a biotic field manifested around him. Clenching his hands together, he completely enveloped himself within his biotics and willed himself to his target. The Vanguard lanced across the battlefield and reappeared already slamming his fists downward, his arms surrounded by blue energy.

Kai Leng was prepared, having already dived backwards when Shepard had activated his biotics, but he was not the target of the attack. Shepard struck the temple's floor with all of his strength and the resulting shockwave sent the already airborne assassin flying. Landing heavily, the Cerberus agent quickly regained control of his momentum and rose to meet the once more charging Vanguard.

As Leng's gunship kept Garrus and Liara pinned behind cover, the assassin and Commander Shepard dueled ferociously. The Cerberus agent stayed one step ahead of the Vanguard's brutal melee attacks, and accepted the biotic shockwaves that buffeted him. Anticipating the forced momentum, Kai Leng's shield was able to shrug off all but the most powerful blasts, and even those only sent him flying farther away from the deadly biotic. Relentlessly, Commander Shepard pursued him, unwilling to give up the offensive.

A particularly vicious shockwave drove the assassin to his knees, but when the Vanguard sought to press his advantage, Kai Leng held out his hand and a piercing blast of light erupted from his palm. Shepard's helmet immediately darkened but the Vanguard was momentarily robbed of his sight. Sending all of his energy to his biotic barrier, the Commander raised his arms before his face and prepared for the counter attack. It never came.

As Shepard's visor cleared, he saw that Kai Leng had vanished. Glancing towards the entryway, he spotted the assassin sprinting towards his gunship. A Cerberus Phantom de-cloaked beside him and the two of them leaped onto the floating Cerberus vessel. The Commander's gaze shot to the Prothean beacon and found it dark.

"They've taken the VI!" Shepard shouted, pulling out his shotgun and charging towards the temple's entryway. The gunship maintained its hail of gunfire as it retreated and Shepard's comrades remained trapped behind cover. As the vessel turned to escape, Garrus rose and fired, but the ship's shields were too strong. At the entryway, Shepard emptied his shotgun at the retreating Cerberus agents to no effect. Ejecting his spent thermal clip, the Commander cursed loudly before trotting back to his companions. Liara was crouched over the Beacon's console but it appeared her efforts were in vain as the air before her remained empty.

"Sorry about that Shepard," Garrus apologized, shaking his head weakly. "That gunship didn't give me-"

"It's my fault for charging Leng like that," Shepard interrupted, putting his hand on the Turian's shoulder. "I should have stayed here, protected the Beacon."

"They got everything!" Liara said, slamming down on the control panel and turning back to Shepard and Garrus. "If only we had had more time, gotten here before the Reapers and Cerberus!"

"No time to dwell on it," Shepard said, turning around and making his way out of the temple. "Now we've got to-"

A sudden wave of voices blasted through the Commander's helmet. The Cerberus operatives had obviously been blocking the Normandy crew's communications. Reports of Reaper forces advancing, the death cries of Asari, and unending requests for reinforcements flooded Shepard's ears. Shaking his head, the Commander silenced all of the voices but one.

"Cortez," he said, watching as the Thessian skyline filled with Reaper flagships. "Get us out of here." Sensing the approach of his comrades, Shepard refused to look away from the burning ashes of the Asari capital.


	2. Chapter 2

The QEC interface pinged quietly as Commander Shepard stalked towards it, fists clenched. Reaching the keypad, he stood motionless for an instant, before abruptly keying the communication channel open. He turned his back to the holographic display and waited.

"Commander Shepard, is that you?" a broken voice asked, static interrupting its melodious intonation.

Shepard refused to turn around. His fists relaxed, then reformed even tighter than before.

"Commander?" the voice asked again, clearly this time. The signal had strengthened.

Silence was its only answer.

"We've lost all contact with Thessia… the planet has gone-"

"You waited until you were sure the Asari were going to die," Shepard finally spoke, turning to face the Asari Councilor. His face was a mask of unrestrained fury. "You let hundreds of millions be butchered before you revealed the existence of your Prothean Beacon. Even then, I didn't know what to expect until I got there but you… you knew."

"Commander… we only sought to-"

"Shut up!" Shepard roared, causing the Asari to unconsciously raise her hands defensively. "How many lives could you have saved if you had been more worried about the galaxy's survival rather than your own superiority?! How much destruction could have been prevented? The Beacon contained a Virtual Intelligence that could have been instrumental in constructing the Crucible. You've had it for thousands of years, and never knew it was there. By the time you told anybody else about the Beacon, it was already too late."

"If it had been discovered that we had been withholding Prothean technology the reaction would have been-"

"The 'reaction?!' You were worried about Salarians and Turians when the Reapers were culling the galaxy? Planets were already being set to flame and you still withheld information that could potentially save all of us?"

"We… we didn't know."

"Bullshit!" Shepard began to pace back and forth, staring at the holographic Asari. "You were hoping we would finish the Crucible by ourselves. You were hoping that the rest of the galaxy would save you, allow everything to go back to the way it was. Your established order was all that mattered, and admitting that you had been withholding Prothean tech the entire time would be almost as damaging to that order as the Reaper's attack. It was only when they broke through to claw at your homeworld that the situation became dire enough to admit your mistake. Well, it was too late. Thessia will burn – as Earth and Palaven burned."

The Asari Councilor covered her eyes and leaned away from Shepard. Silence gathered between the two figures. "What can we do?" she asked, quietly.

"Save whoever you can," Shepard replied, his voice now a low rumble compared to the roar of before. "I will retrieve the VI from Cerberus and the Crucible will be completed. I will still stop the Reapers. Until I do, millions of Asari will die."

The Asari nodded slightly and began to reply, but the Commander silenced her with a raised hand. "The blood of those killed by the Reapers is partially on your hand's, Councilor. The Asari may not deserve what is happening to them, but they brought it upon themselves."

The Councilor tried to say something, but no words came. Abruptly, the transmission ended.

"Shepard…" a voice all but whispered from the short hallway leading to the QEC.

Shepard turned, his shoulders falling forward as the last of his rage seeped out of him. Liara stood at the entryway, her arms wrapped around her chest and her eyes locked on the metal floor. Her voice was broken. "If… if only we had known. We could have reached the artifact before Cerberus and…"

"Cerberus would have known of the beacon as soon as we did. They were always going to be a factor. Without the Reapers there, without the chaos, things might have ended differently, but even if they didn't, we'd still have had more time. Saved more lives."

Liara shook her head and a tear fell to the ground. Her voice became edged with anger as she continued. "I still can't believe my own people would do something like that. Go against our own laws for our personal gain."

"It's a decidedly human trait that it appears the Asari share." Liara's eyes rose and saw the Commander half smiling, his eyes full of a tired sympathy. "Up untill the end of our world, my government held me captive. If they had the information the Asari leaders did, I cannot guarantee they would have acted any differently. It's only when we know we're about to lose everything that we let go of the established order." He moved forward and pulled the Asari scientist against him, holding her tightly as she held her head against his chest. "I just hope it's not too late," he said, eyes locked on the war-room's display.


End file.
